n Texas, football is best described in three capital letters -- B-I-G. You're not just talking about the University of Texas Longhorns, either. In many parts of the Lone Star State, high school gridiron contests attract tens of thousands of excited, dedicated fans, something noted in a recent USA TODAY profile ("Top team thrives in desert," Section C, August 18, 1999) of the Midland Rebels. "We're stranded out here in the desert," one Texas high school football coach remarks. "There's no ocean front to enjoy or mountains to explore." So, there's football, and high school sports stadiums that become packed with enough fans to make a respectable turnout for an NFL town. Football is big, B-I-G.

   But the athletic field is rapidly turning into a culture war battle zone, as it did Friday night at a game in Stephenville, Texas, over the issue of school prayer. Education boards and school principals across Texas are struggling with federal guidelines on religious activities, including the ban on official school prayer. Earlier this year, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that some religious references were permissible at school events like graduation ceremonies, but were inappropriate -- not sufficiently sacred -- during other activities like athletic contests. Jurists ruled that the hootin' and hollerin' of a down-home football standoff lacked the "singularly serious nature" of other functions, such as a graduation event.

   That didn't stop a small group of 15 students on Friday night, though, from smuggling a portable public address system into a high school game in Stephenville, Texas, to lead supporters in public prayer. Nor did the ruling prevent trustees of the Andrews Independent School District from announcing that they will continue to support prayer at athletic events pending a lawsuit seeking to stop the practice. District Superintendent Richard Ownby told the Odessa (Texas) American newspaper, "If somebody says, 'Hey, you're violating my rights,' then I guess we'll have to stop. It is the feeling of our community that the community wants it." The AISD board discussed the Circuit Court ruling at a meeting earlier this month, and decided to proceed with the illegal student-initiated prayer anyway.

   Not everyone is happy with the latest legal decisions, either. In Weimar, Texas, high school coach Alan Witte told the San Antonio Express-News, "High school football and prayer go hand in hand in Texas. I'm very disappointed by this..."

   "For fans and students of the game, like Witte," noted the Express, "the court ruling is a slap in the face of small town tradition and local control."

   One of the "prayer warrior" students at Friday night's game told the Stephenville Empire-Tribune paper, "This was not about football, it was about God. We decided to pray for God (sic)." According to an Associated Press report, local high school superintendent Larry Butler said that the impromptu prayer rally did not have support of authorities from the district. "With that being said," added Butler, "I applaud them for doing something that they feel really strongly about. I think the entire community of Stephenville believes in school prayer."

"High school football and prayer go hand in hand in Texas. I'm very disappointed by this..."

   So far, there are no other reports of spontaneous prayer outbreaks at weekend football games. News accounts suggest that most school district throughout Texas are abiding by the Circuit Court guidelines, including the Santa Fe Independent School in Galveston, which has appealed the ban on pre-game prayer to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Ector County, a high school officials told the Odessa American that his district would "abide by the law of the land." A spokesperson for the Midland County Independent School District echoed that sentiment declaring, "We do what the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals tells us we can do. That's where we get our marching orders."

   The flap over different types of school prayer has continued since the early 1960s when in a series of crucial decisions the U.S. Supreme Court ended orchestrated prayer and Bible verse recitation. In rulings such as MURRAY v. CURLETT, ENGEL v. VITALE and others, the court struck down classroom prayer and Bible verse reading when led by teachers or other school officials, even when a "non-denominational" prayer such as the one devised by the State of New York was recited. Justices ruled that students, particularly in early grades were a "captive audience" vulnerable to proselytizing, and that such prayer fostered the perception of government endorsement of religion.

Office Of The Texas State Director Web Site, AMERICAN ATHEISTS

   But prayer supporters say they can circumvent such constitutional restrictions by turning to so-called "student led" or "student initiated" prayer. In Texas, that issue was the center of a lawsuit filed in 1995 by two families -- Mormon and Roman Catholic -- challenging the Santa Fe High School policy of permitting nondenominational prayers at school events organized and led by the students. The Fifth Circuit ruled that some forms of religious expression were permissible, but only at events such as a graduation -- and not football or other athletic contests.

   Immediately prior to Friday's game, Superintendent Richard Ownby warned that any student attempting to lead a prayer "would be disciplined as if they had cursed."

   As noted in the San Antonio Express-News, though, "Widespread defiance of the court's ruling suggests that the issue could become a 'flashpoint' in the larger debate over separation of church and state..." Teresa Collett, a professor at the South Texas College of Law told the paper that the issue of school prayer is remote for many Americans, until something like the Texas case occurs.

   "All of a sudden people who have been largely sheltered from development of law come face-to-face with it in a way they think is unfair and not necessary ... you're going to have civil disobedience."

   Paul McGreal of the STCL suggested a deeper meaning for what is taking place in high school districts throughout the state. "This is really a symptom of a much larger debate in America -- our disagreement about what place religion should have in public society -- about whether we should be using religion to make public policy decisions."

   Unfortunately, both McGreal and Collett suggested a "moment of silence" prior to games as a possible way of trying to settle the issue. Collett said, "It might withstand judicial scrutiny," but added that she did not think that it would "satisfy" the families and students involved. But courts have generally rejected the "moment of silence" or "meditation" periods, saying that they are ruses for prayer. In addition, lower courts are sending conflicting signals over prayer at graduation events, even when led or initiated by students. In May, for instance, a panel from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a District Judge erred in denying an injunction against such a practice in Duval County, Florida. That case, too, is under appeal.

   Although Friday night's "prayer war" incidents were relatively rare, resistance to the Circuit Court ruling could spread. Santa Fe School Board President John Couch told the Express-News that he had heard of "dozens" of districts across the state that plan to allow spontaneous outburst of student-parent religiosity, but "declined to name them."

   "I wouldn't be surprised if there are hundreds (of districts) out there," declared Couch. "It's been going on for years and it's going to continue to go on."

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